


Nothing Here Is As It Seems

by neverbelonely



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Happy Ending, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverbelonely/pseuds/neverbelonely
Summary: Sarah, daughter of Lord Williams, was a sickly child and is now seen as weak and incapable. Prince Jareth will inherit the Goblin Kingdom when he marries, a kingdom thought of as useless and strange. Both of them are believed to be unremarkable and insignificant but, as everyone in the Underground should know, nothing here is as it seems.
Relationships: Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Nothing Here Is As It Seems

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be finishing my other stories instead of starting a new one? Probably. But have this one anyway.

Sarah laid in bed, looking towards the morning sun filtering through the gap the curtains. Her arms rested on the pillow above her head and she yawned, stretching a little. It was probably quite late in the morning, but she never woke early.

Sarah’s problems in life had started with her birth. It had been a very difficult experience for her mother, and she had been a weak child, and ever since the family doctor had prescribed plenty of rest and no strenuous activity. Evidently this had been too much for Sarah’s mother, who had left when Sarah had only been a few years old. This had caused quite a scandal in society, as Sarah’s father was a lord, and running away and leaving behind your husband and child was quite poor etiquette.

Consequently, Sarah had grown up with only her father and the staff he hired to help look after her, she was never often allowed to leave the house and rarely saw other children. Reading was one of the few activities allowed to her, which meant she learnt a lot and cultivated quite the imagination, but was rather awkward around other people despite her many lessons on etiquette from her tutor, as she never saw many people to practice her manners on.

Her father then met a lady, which only made things worse. Lady Irene completely agreed with her father that Sarah was simply not strong enough for society, and the two of them frequently left her alone with only the staff for company so they could go out to balls and tea parties. Eventually they married, one social event that Sarah was permitted to go to, although she was not allowed to dance for fear it would wear her out, and soon had a child.

Tobias was a very sweet little boy, Sarah admitted that much, very angelic with his blue eyes and blond curls, when he was not crying or being sick. But Sarah could not help but be envious of all the attention he received, and how he was allowed to play to his heart’s content, because he was so strong and healthy. It was not his fault of course, but she allowed herself to occasionally feel upset about it. But he was a couple of years old now, and he was always happy to see her, so she never found the heart to be angry around him.

She supposed she would not have much more time to spend with him, as she suspected her father and Irene had plans to marry her to someone. She did not think they were so heartless as to be doing it to get rid of her, she knew her father at least loved her, but it was strange to have an unwed daughter, and arranged marriages were quite often done. She was 18 now, after all. She just hoped the man would be civil, or perhaps even nice. Even after all the fairy tales she had read, she was not holding out hope for a happily ever after for herself.

The man would probably have some money, maybe some sort of title, nothing quite as high up in society as anyone close to the High King, who was a very powerful faerie and would never arrange for any of his family to wed someone like Sarah, who had no magic and almost no connections, and barely left her house.

At this moment in Sarah’s rambling thoughts, her stepmother burst into the room.

“Oh, Sarah! You’re awake, wonderful, I have news. Should I send Lily into help you dress, or should I tell you first?” As Irene spoke, she moved over to the curtains and pulled them open.

Sarah rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up. “You can tell me now.”

Irene smiled and turned to her. “Your father just received a letter, everything has been arranged, you’re going to marry the High King’s youngest son, Prince Jareth!”

Sarah, who had been attempting to get up, promptly fell out of bed.

* * *

The next morning Sarah sat in the sitting room used for receiving guests and thought about how she could have guessed this might happen if she had thought about it hard enough. The High King’s youngest son was to be given the Goblin Kingdom to rule over once he married, his older siblings having already been given much more sort after land in the Underground, and who else would agree to marry someone knowing they would have to rule over that kingdom but a person who had very little other options?

The Goblin Kingdom was not really a bad kingdom, it had plentiful harvests, beautiful landscapes, and the area was rich with magic. But the creatures that lived there, mainly goblins but others too, were known to be rather chaotic, with very little manners. Most of the land was taken up by the large Labyrinth that surrounded the main city and castle at its centre. The Labyrinth was known to be tricky to traverse and control. Consequently, members of the royal family were known to try and avoid ruling it, and those who ended up destined to rule it, like Prince Jareth, often found it hard to find anyone wanting to marry them, because they would have to marry into such a kingdom that was so looked down on. Which is why their last resorts ended up being people like Sarah, who were still linked to some sort of title and status, but were not so sort after because perhaps they were bankrupt, or somewhat unattractive, or had parents who left them and were known to be weak and sickly.

So yes, Sarah really should have seen this coming.

She was dressed in one of her finer dresses, a pretty green garment embroidered with pink flowers, and wore pink lace gloves. Her long, dark brown hair had been plaited and pinned up and Lily had attempted to apply makeup to her face to make her less pale and more lively. Tobias was being looked after by the governess, and her father and stepmother sat next to each other on the other sofa as they waited.

Prince Jareth was due to arrive any moment. They would be introduced to each other and begin discussing arrangements for the wedding and for moving into the goblin castle. She expected her parents would actually do most of the arranging, but she would try and get a word or two in. This was the beginning of a new part of her life, after all, and perhaps she might be able to change some things for the better. She knew she had limits, but she often thought her parents limited her too much, and barely let her live a life at all. She would be the wife of the Goblin King soon enough, perhaps that would mean she could figure out her limits and boundaries for herself, rather than letting her parents do it.

A servant stepped into the room and announced, “His Royal Highness, Prince Jareth.”

Sarah stood and got her first look at her future husband as he stepped into the room. A feeling she had never experienced before developed inside her as she looked upon him. He was quite tall, and dressed finely in dark blue tight trousers, and a matching jacket and waistcoat, along with a ruffled white shirt, black gloves and boots. His pale blond hair was tied back with a blue ribbon so she could see his pointed ears which were decorated with delicate gold star shaped earrings. His skin was pale and perfectly smooth, his lips soft and pink, his eyes were lined with blue glitter, and when he turned to look at her she saw that while they were both a light blue, one was slightly damaged.

It was then, when their eyes met, that she realised she was staring and quickly curtsied, mumbling a quick, “Your Highness.”

The prince bowed to her, looking at her with what might have been curiosity, but she could not quite tell, “My Lady.” He stepped towards her and suddenly remembering her etiquette lessons, she offered him her hand. Smiling ever so slightly, he took it and lifted it to his lips, pressing them gently against the lace covering, looking into her eyes as he did so. She had never been so close to a man who was not in her family, and she felt rather warm, and a little dizzy.

“Your highness,” remembering that there were other people in the room, Sarah looked over at her father, who had spoken as he bowed, next to her curtseying stepmother.

The prince turned to them and nodded, “Lord and Lady Williams, I am very grateful you have let us into your home and have given me the honour of marrying your daughter.” Sarah could tell these were rehearsed words, but she got the feeling he might mean them still.

Glancing around the room, she noticed a guard, an elf judging by his ears, pointier than a human’s but not as long as a faerie’s, and some sort of assistant, a goblin, had also entered the room and stood quietly by the door.

The prince seemed to notice her looking at them because he turned to introduce them. “This is my new Captain of the Guard Alexander, and my new royal assistant Canton, they have come with me to help assist in us transition to working and living in the goblin castle.”

Each of them bowed to her, and she smiled to them in return, “Nice to meet you.”

Everyone then sat down, the prince joining Sarah on her sofa. Tea was served and they began discussing arrangements, the date for the wedding, which they decided would be soon, to make the most of the Spring weather, and the dates they would move into the castle. Prince Jareth would be moving in a few days before the wedding to get things settled and Sarah would join him there after the wedding.

Sarah, although she did want to get her hopes up too much, decided she liked the prince as she carefully sipped her tea. He was firm and decisive, and as they moved onto the finer details, she noticed he was a little romantic too. He clearly respected tradition, and understood this marriage was not something to enter into lightly.

Canton looked at the next item on the list. “You wanted to discuss the first dance, sire.”

The prince smiled and nodded, looking at Sarah, “I wanted to ask if you would like to dance a traditional goblin waltz, the music is beautiful, and the steps are quite simple to learn.”

The idea of the dance excited Sarah, and she opened her mouth to respond, but her stepmother answered first, “I worry that might be too exhausting for Sarah, it will be quite a long day for her as it is.”

To Sarah’s delight she saw the prince frown slightly in her stepmother’s direction, then look at her again. “I am aware that is something to consider, but I wanted your thoughts on the matter, my lady.”

Sarah’s face felt quite warm as she smiled at the prince. “I think I would like to try, it would be a shame not to have a first dance, and if I am too tired I will let you know.”

He smiled in return, looking pleased. “Good, that is settled then, Canton, we will need to arrange for someone to teach Lady Sarah the dance steps before the wedding.”

Her parents looked like they were considering protesting but seemed to think better of it and stayed quiet.

Canton nodded, “Yes sir, I will have it arranged.” He took a pocket watch out of his waistcoat and checked the time. “That was the last item on the list, and if there is nothing else to be discussed, we should be leaving to make it on time to dinner with your mother.”

The prince nodded and stood, everyone standing with him, “If there is anything else to decide, we can discuss it through letters,” he looked at Sarah, “I would like to return before the wedding to talk through more details, but I may not have time.”

Sarah nodded, “I understand, you can write to me.” She blushed a little, she had always imagined what it would be like to write love letters, she had never thought she would be writing letters like this.

He smiled at her for several moments longer than was polite, “Good.” Canton cleared his throat and the prince bowed to her. She curtsied in return and then he left, nodding to her parents, his assistant and guard bowing to her as they left, the Captain giving her an approving smile.

Her father let out a breath of relief once they were gone. “Well, that went quite well, although I’m not quite sure he understands Sarah’s situation.”

Sarah smiled to herself, sitting down and watching the royal carriage leave through the window. “I felt he understood me quite well.”


End file.
